Filling-feeler mechanism for looms



Aug. 1.2 1924. 1,504,893 c..J.KEL| Y FILLING` FEELER MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed July 19, 1922 PatentedAug. 12, 1924.,

UNITED srAies oonNnL'r'Us J. KELLY, on TAUNTON, Mnsseciiinsnirrs,Assieivoia *ro rrori'inh'Lie'infiltre-` ritorniamo COMPANY, or iir'ILFoRD, MAsshoi-iisnrifs, A coi'aioRA'rioN or MassnriLLnvG-rnntnn'MEcHhNrsiJr `non Looins.

Application filed :ruiy ie, 1922, sei-iai No. 575,980.

To all fro/0m t may concern: l

Be it known that I, CORNELIUS J. KELLY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Taunton, in thecounty vof Bristol and State of Massachusetts, have invented ceitain new and useful improvements in Fillin'g-Feeler hfechanism forLooins; and I do hereby de clare the following'to be full, clear, and exact description of the invention such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to an imn provenient in filling` feeler looms. Y

One object of the present invention is to produce a filling;` feeler mechanism having a cont-roller which, instead of striking the mechanism for shuttle spring, strikes the shuttle, thereby eliminating variations in operation due to differing positions of the shuttle springs.

`To the accomplishment of this' object, and such others asV shall hereinafterappear, the present invention consists inthe filling feeler mechanism hereinafter described and parL ticularly pointed out in the claims".

In ,the accoi'npanyi'ng` drawing illustrating the preferred form of the invention, Figure 1 is a' plan of a portion of the left hand end of a looin showing the application ofi the improvedfilling feelerv mechanisn'i The loom illustratedin the drawings is of` the automatic weft replenishing f type and comprises a lay `9, provided in the usual manner with 4a shuttle box 12, in which the shuttle 13 comes to rest when properly boxed in position to permit the filling feeler mecha'- nisni to determine the extent to which the' filling on the bobbin hasfbeenexhausted. A longitudinal slot le is cut in the front wall of the shuttley to permit the. fil-ling feeler operati-onw .A roch shaft 15 which is jour# naled in suitable bearings at the front side of the breast beam extends across the front of the breast beam and is operatively connected at the other end of the loom with the weft replenishing mechanism. Secured to the roclrlsliaft` 15 and projecting upwardly therefrom is an'arm 16 to the upper end of` which is ypivote-d a rook shaft actuator 18. The rock shaft actuator 18, the arm 16 and the rock Asli-aft constitute what is herein` after called the filling supply 'controllingl means and they perform their fuiictionwhen the filling in the active shuttle has been eX- hausted to a predetermined `eXtent-'-that` is tosa'y, when there is critical exhaustion of the filling-to initiate the operation of the weft replenishingmechanism, and thereby cau-se the insertion of a fresh supply of filling in the shuttle. VThe parts above enumerated, their actuating mechanism and their mode of operation, together with other parts necessary to a disclosure of the present invention, are of the usual construction and well-known to those skilledl in the art.

The improved filling` feeler mechanism operates to ldetermine the amount of filling.`

on the active shuttleand upon critical eX- haustion of filling to set in operation the supply controlling means. The filling feeler mechanism comprises va filling feeler generally indicated by thel lreference character 19, a controller 2O and a latch lever 21. The filling feeler consists of a feeler lever 22 and a filling engaging member 23 having upon its rearmost extremity filling engaging teeth. The fillingV engaging member 23 is slidingly mounted in two ear-s 26, 27, projecting upwardlyl fromv the rearward part of the feeler lever. The filling engaging member is yieldinglypressed toward the bobbin 28 by a'. light tension spring 29 encircling the shank 30 formed on the forwardend of the member. One end of the spring engages a shoulder formed between the member and the shank and the otherv end of the spring engages the ear 27. The feeler lever 22 is pivotally mounted on the vertical pivot p1in32 which is adjustablysecured in the' control-ler slide 20.4 slide is provided with a slot shown in dotted lines at 33 inFigs. 2 yand 3, and the pivot.

The

position therein. A washer encircles the `pivot pin and on the washer rests the feeler lever 22. A bearing sleeve -37 embraces the, pivot pin and extends from the washer at the bottom to the washer 39y L.ittlie top. By loosening the nut 4:1, the pivot pin may be moved inthe slot as above described and then'by tightening such 'i Inut the pin may be clamped in place by is A the exertion of pressure by the 'nut on the sleeve 37. The feeler lever-'22 f isv secured to a hub 43 which fits over and is adapted toy turn 4on the sleeve37. The 'feeler lever has. connected to lit' a laterally extended 'shoulder 45.-, Means are provided toy en-V "gagefthis shoulder and preventthe feeler from.,turn-ing atall times exceptgwhen the controller, by means to be described, persmits. A link 47 connects the forward end of ythefeeler lever22 with; the latch lever 2li@ ,'lhejflatch ,lever is pivoted at 49 on` the lrockv shaft actuator 18 and a spring 51 ,tendsto turn the-latch lever in a Adirecftionto cause the linkgtoV pull upon the feeler; leverA 22 and `move its rearward end l to the left sow-as therebytdmove the filling y feeler longitudinally-along the surface of the bobbin.l yThe rear endof the latch lever 2ljis notched at53 and when swung to the so left, kis adapted tobe engaged by the weft fhammerv 2,5.. The controller 2O is slidingly mounted inthebracket 6l secured to the left hand end of the knock-off bracket. VThe front end ofthe controller 20 is provided with a locky lever support 63 which extends laterally-.and rearwardly as shown in Fig.

' l'fa-nda-hasy pivotally supported to its rear end-the lock lever v65. This lock lever is a; bell'erank leverpivoted at 67 to .the supvrne'cted by means of an adjustable link 73 with the.` bracketl by the pin 75. One of the'two members ,of this link 73 is slotted,

. as shown, and the bolt 77 yunites the two y members at ,the desired adjusted length. vThe construction is such that as the con-l trollerinoves forwardly, it carries the pivot G7of thev lock lever with it and the lockl lever, is thereby tipped so that itsupper arm 69 is .removed from in front of the shoulder 45 ofv the feeler so that the latter may turn' upon its pivot in theevent that the filling hasbeen exhausted .to such an extent as to vpermit it. v Y l .The controller slide20 has a downwardly `,projecting lug 8l which extends into the slot.l 83 in the bracket 6l. Asecondlug 85"extends downward'from the Vcontroller slide 42O at the forward end thereof,A and a-.rod 87 passes throughthe .two lugs 8l and 85 and screws into Ythe bracket at 89.

The hugy 81 reciprocates inthe slot 83, and

a spring 91 encircles the rod 87 and by abutting a portion of the bracket 61 normally holds the controllerl slide in rearward position.

The mode of operation of the device is as follows: In normal operation with each forward beat of the lay, when the shuttle is boxed on this side ofthe loom, the controller is moved forward after the feeler lever has had opportunity to engage the filling, and it thereby tilts the lock lever and frees the feeler lever 22. Until the filling is exhausted to the critical extent, it prevents the swinging of the feeler lever under the influence of the latch spring 5l which, through the. latch 2l and the link 47, can turn the feeler end to the left. But when critical exhaustion is reached, the filling on the bobbin no longer prevents vthe swinging of the feeler, and the latch lever is presented to the weft hammer, and thereupon filling replenishment is secured by pushing forward the latch lever and operating the filling controlling mechanism.

Viewed in its broaderaspects, the invention contemplates a filling feeler adapted for use to knock off the loom as well as to control filling replenishment, but the important use of the invention is, of course, in securingfilling replenishment.

. Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A loom having, in combination, a lay, a shuttle, a filling carrier, and filling feeler mechanism comprising a controller mounted to move toward and from the lay, a feeler pivotally mounted on the controller, the controller having its rear end'adapted to be engaged by the shuttle, and the feeler being mounted above the controller so that the feeler engages the yarn at a point on the bobbin immediately in the rear of the int where the controller engages the shuttle? 2. A loom having, in combination, a lay, a shuttle, a filling carrier, and filling feeler mechanism comprising a bracket, a. controller slide mounted to move forward and back in the bracket, and having its rear end adapted to engage the shuttle, a filling feeler pivotally mounted on the controller, a lock lever connected to the controller and operated thereby to release the feelery when the controller is struck by the shuttle.

3. A loom having, in combination, a lay, a shuttle, a filling carrier, and filling feeler mechanism comprising a support, a controller slidingly mounted in the support having its rear end adapted to be struck by the shuttle, a feeler lever pivotally mounted on the controller provided with a shoulder, a lock lever also mounted on the controller, and means for connecting the lock lever with the support so that when the controller is moved forwardly the `lock lever is moved forwardly and is removed from in front o f the shoulder of the feeler lever, and means for operating the eeler onoritical exhaustion of the filling.

4. A loom having, in combination, a lay,

a shuttle, a filling carrier, and filling feeler mechanism comprising a support, a controller slidingly mounted in the support having its rearward end adapted to engage the shuttle, a eeler lever pivotally mounted on the controller, having its filling eeler end extending rearwardly beyond the end of the controller and adapted to engage the filling on the lling carrier, a lock lever pivotally mounted on the controller, connections between the lock lever and the support for swinging the lock lever when the controller is moved forwardly,` a portion of the lock lever being adapted to engage a portion of the `feeler lever to prevent such feeling movements of the feeler lever at all times except when the controller is moved forward by engagement with the shuttle.

5. Filling feeler mechanism for looms, comprising a support, a controller slidingly mounted on the support, a spring normally holding the controller in its rearward position, a feeler lever, a pivot pin for the eeler lever secured to the controller, the. latter being provided with a slot permitting the pivot pin to be secured to the controller at diiierent positions, a bell crank lock lever pivoted near its angle to the controller, having an upper arm and a lower arm, the

lower arm being connected by a link to the support, and the upper arm being adapted to engage a portion of the feeler lever to prevent the turning of the latter in feelingl movement except when the controller is in forward position.

6. A loom having, 1n combination, a lay,

alshuttle, a filling carrier, and filling eeler.

ooRNELiUs J. KELLY. 

